The RWA offers free business advice to Small Business

Geoff
Turnbull from the Chamber of Commerce, in a recent Chamber newsletter reports:

“Following
a meeting with the RWA we discovered a free business advice service funded by
the Redfern Waterloo Authority and the Department of State and Regional
Development which will be of considerable use to existing business as well as
to those thinking of setting up a business in the area. The service provides
free one-on-one confidential advice through an experienced business advisor who
has over 20 years experience helping start new businesses or grow existing
ones. You can download from these links
the leaflets for the Free Business Advice Service (79 KB PDF) and the Free Aboriginal Business Advice Service (79 KB
PDF).”

Block drug bust

Early
last month, on the day of the NSW Upper House inquiry into Aboriginal Disadvantage,
scores of police descended on the Block for a drug raid labelled Operation
Strike Force “Gildea”. Raids on homes in Louis, Eveleigh and Vine streets
resulted in 17 arrests, including 11 women and six men, for the supply and
possession of prohibited drugs. The raid received support from the AHC, Babana
and The Settlement at the Inquiry. Redfern Police Commander Superintendent Mark
Walton said it was part of an operation that began back in March to limit
supply and use of drugs at the Block.

On
May 22 there was the tragedy of the stabbing on the Block.

Police
media reported:

“Police
are investigating the stabbing death of a man at Redfern this morning.
Shortly after midnight police were called to Vine Street after reports a man had been
stabbed. Officers from Redfern Local Area Command found the 23-year-old man
lying on the road with a stab wound to his upper chest. The man was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
where he was pronounced dead. Police established a crime scene and an
investigation has been launched involving detectives from Redfern Local Area
Command and the Homicide Squad.”

Drug
busts and stabbings. What a tragedy! The community deserves better.

Breast Screen van in Redfern

The Breast Screen van returned to Pitt
Street, Redfern last month. Situated outside the Rachel Foster
Hospital site, the van
offers free mammograms to women over 40. Early detection of breast cancer is
vital and many older women in NSW are not aware of the need to be checked every
two years, with one in nine women developing breast cancer in their lifetime.
The van will remain on Pitt Street
until late June.

Rudd Government not popular at the Factory

The Turnbulls’ Redfern Waterloo updates late last
month reported on the effects of the Rudd Government’s first budget on Redfern-Waterloo.

“Not all local services were lucky in the budget. One of the projects
axed by the government’s first budget was the Regional Partnerships Program of the
Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Services and
Local Government. The Factory had put 12 months of work and the expense of hiring an
architect and putting a DA to council as a requirement for an application to
the Regional Partnerships Program to refurbishment of its kitchen and disabled
toilet.”

The update continues: “The negotiation was quite complex
and necessitated matching funding from Housing NSW (which had been approved but
are now at risk). The programme has now been axed by the Rudd government
leaving The Factory significantly out of pocket and without the facilities to
run its proposed new programmes on Nutrition, Health Awareness and Food
Security. If you have any suggestions or know of any other programmes that
might help The Factory get its kitchen upgrade please contact Patrick Russell on 9698 9569.”

There seems to be some confusion as to these facts, some of which are
contested by Tanya Plibersek’s office. We will have a full
report next month, but if you can help the Factory, ring Patrick.

Alexandria hero, Ben Aveling!

Ben,
the man from the Alexandria Branch of the Labor Party who has taken on the Premier
and Michael Costa, the State Treasurer, with charges in relation to the Head
Office of the NSW Labor Party has been published in Crikey.com. Ben wrote a
good opinion piece about electricity. If you are a Crikey subscriber, I hope
you have read it.

Hopefully,
you will read it in this august publication next month.

Source:
South Sydney Herald June 2008 www.southsydneyherald.com.au